Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Build a Bug


Boys like bugs. This I know is true. When my oldest son was in preschool, I discovered the book Bugtown Boogie at our local library. After renewing it that first time, and checking it multiple times thereafter, I finally broke down and bought it. (I was starting to feel guilty that we were denying other kids the joy of reading this amazing book!)

The story is about a boy who stumbles on a bug’s dance club. It describes a myriad of insects and how they shake it to the buggy-wuggy beat. The book’s rhyming text is lyrical and after a few readings, we started to sing the “chorus.” The book starts:

I was strollin’ on home through the woods the other night,
When I saw something a-flashin’ – it was shinin’ mighty bright!
It was blinkin’ and a-winkin’ near the bottom of the tree,
So I scurried on over just to see what I could see.


To say that Warren Hanson’s masterpiece is one my most favorite children’s books is an understatement. It’s the kind of book you give as a gift, you are glad your child asks you to read over and over, and reminds you how magical the world seemed when you were young.

When I pulled it out to read with this activity, my son was thrilled (he hasn't tired of this book even after two years)! We also read a great non-fiction book from The Cat in the Hat Learning Library – On Beyond Bugs by Tish Rabe. It’s cleverly written and filled with fun facts about all kinds of insects.


After we’d finished reading, I gave my son a die and two pages of bug body parts.

Download a 2-page PDF of bug bodies and parts here.
First I had him pick the bug body of his choice, cut it out, and glue it to another piece of paper. Then he rolled the die to determine what he’d add to the picture. If he rolled a three, he could add a leg. I left it up to him whether his creation was an insect or spider (i.e. 6 or 8 legs).


Every time he rolled a four, he added more spots, a two meant he had to keep building his bug’s habitat (first, he added clouds, then a tree – his bug was flying!). He used examples from the sheet I made to help him know what to draw and how many of each (the number of body parts is noted above the die on the ‘parts’ page).

My son’s buggy creation may be the very first winged spider! I love his creativity!


19 comments:

  1. How cute! I love all the great ideas you have! Fun stuff!

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  2. This is brilliant and thanks for sharing this bug book. By the way, I was wondering if you will be interested in joining an Afterschool linky crew in January. Please drop me email if you are interested, and I'll give you details.

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  3. Oooh fun activity! And certainly to interest the boys!

    Thanks for sharing on Kids Get Crafty!

    Maggy

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  4. What a fun game! Great book suggestion too!

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  5. I love this! It's such a great idea.

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  6. We Love the book On Beyond Bugs at our house! I'm going to have to try this game with my oldest! Looks like fun! Thanks!

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  7. I love the game! Bugtown Boogie is such fun! I love to the rhythm in the words.

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  8. Adorable!! Love this freebie! Thanks for sharing at Thrifty Thursday!

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  9. Very cool! I am going to check out that book!!! Thanks for linking up to TGIF! Happy New Year,
    Beth =-)

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  10. Sounds like a great project! Flying spiders... that's a scary thought. :P

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  11. Congrats! You were one of the top clicked links at Thrifty Thursday! Check it out!

    http://www.playingwithwords365.com/2012/01/thrifty-thursday-5/

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  12. Very cute- love interesting activities for boys. Thanks for sharing.

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  13. My daughter would LOVE this! Thanks for sharing!

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  14. What a fun idea! My daughter would freak out the entire time- she hates bugs :-/ Thank you for sharing your ideas with us on The Sunday Showcase Have a happy New Year!

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  15. This look like fun, my two boys would love it. Come share your posts at Bacon Time's Anything Goes Linky up Fri-Monday.
    http://bacontimewiththehungryhypo.blogspot.com/

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  16. I love this activity! Found it through For the Kids Friday link up. Think I will try it with my preschoolers! Thanks
    Lori

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  17. Thanks for linking up to Serenity Saturday link party
    Hope to see you there again this week
    http://serenityyou.blogspot.com/search/label/Serenity%20Saturday

    Natasha

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  18. Thanks for sharing. I love this activity!

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  19. I hope you don't mine. I posted a link to this blog entry over on my blog for art teachers. It would make such a nice art sub lesson. http://artsublessons.blogspot.com/2016/09/build-bug.html Jan

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